[imrazor]

FWIW... in the US Verizon and ATT are no longer offering deep discounts on phones under 2 year contracts.  You either pay full price up front, or spread the full payment out over a 24 month period.  So, holding on and waiting for that deep discount every 2 years isn't worth it any more... I don't think.  My sister in law just told me her 5S is worth $200 to trade-in with Verizon.  So... $650 versus $450 on a trade-in might make the decision a little easier for you, especially if its an older phone and its battery is on the last leg.

Thanks for the detailed reply. Though some inexperienced friends have called me an audiophile, I'm really not. I'm not blessed with golden ears, though I can tell some difference between 16-bit/44-khz and 24-bit/96khz audio. Plus my headphones aren't top of the line models (Senn HD280 Pro & TDK ST800.) From your description, it sounds like it wouldn't be worth the outlay. For various reasons, I'm tied to T-mobile and they're only offering $100 trade-in. Battery is in good shape, and I just picked up a Mophie battery case for a song...

 

[kramer5150]

  Thanks for the detailed reply. Though some inexperienced friends have called me an audiophile, I'm really not. I'm not blessed with golden ears, though I can tell some difference between 16-bit/44-khz and 24-bit/96khz audio. Plus my headphones aren't top of the line models (Senn HD280 Pro & TDK ST800.) From your description, it sounds like it wouldn't be worth the outlay. For various reasons, I'm tied to T-mobile and they're only offering $100 trade-in. Battery is in good shape, and I just picked up a Mophie battery case for a song...

Actually you might be a good candidate for this kind of upgrade.  I for one can not hear a difference between MANY redbook CD and 24bit recordings, yet I can hear the difference between at least my version iPhone and the LG-V10.  But even then it waters down to a question of value and enjoyment returns.

 

[Smartaudiophone]

   
Man, I always heard the G4 was great but not the best. I'm new here so I'm gonna need to filter more my informatios cause you here are the most demanding people for audio quality. My bad..

Nah, i`m new here myself and honestly i`ve never listened to those high end super audio devices mentioned in on this website, but believe me, the G4 is really not good in terms of Audio quality, you don`t need to be a professional to realize that. 

 

[artpiggo]

@smartaudiophone

someday you should try letv max pro as well! you might find something good from this phone.

you can get SQ from both world of xiaomi and meizu LOL

DX80-like smartphone.

 

[TrucknHemi]

What a shame for such a good overall smartphone xP
which one do you have now?

Does anyone know how good is a TDK iem? I really like the brand and has some budget iems to buy.

 

[mikedcw]

   
With the same audio components and the good MediaTek MT6752 the X3 c78 is an awesome choice. One of the advantages from the Snap 808 is the heat dissipation and the long lasting battery coused by the economical SoC. I think the 16MP unito on it can still do a capable job.
Motorola never had audio on focus in your company's life. Wouldn't go for it...
I read that the G4 is an excelent performer with audio but not as good as the V10.
The Sonys has great player but it isn't enough to be good anymore. Today Sony tries to focus on Water resistence and camera quality.
 
With those prices you still can look into the Mi Note, HTC M8(or even M9), HTC A9, etc.
 

 
I've always considered the M8, but until recently the price was still a bit high here in Brazil, but now it's a bit more affordable. The M9 I've read some not so good reviews and comments, saying it barely improves upon the M8 and that the Snapdragon 810 overheats easily. Add to that the price here, and it becomes not worth it.
 
Does the M8 hold up still performance-wise? Thanks for the comments, really helpful in narrowing it down to the Vibe X3 and the M8 for now.

 

[mikedcw]

Nevermind, the M8 might not be an option here in Brazil, HTC doesn't have a sales rep here... Probably gonna go with the Vibe X3

 

[TrucknHemi]

Performance wise the M8 can keep up easly, but some say it's audio is not that great for not having a proper DAC. At least it is loud and has little distortion even in uper volumes. Many like it and recomend plus XDA has a lot of sound mods to improve things.
To buy the M8 you gonna need to look into Mercado Livre and OLX.

This Vibe X3 seems pretty good too, the processor isn't top notch but it can do everything well. A page ago some user mention the stereo speakers of the Vibe X3 better than M8's.

 

[alexandis]

Today i was able to listen to Lenovo Vibe X3 a little bit.
I could not transfer my FLACs to it, unfortunately. So I only downloaded some short testing samples.
They did not have a big choice of head/ear phones, too.
So i tried Vibe on Sennheiser Momentum M2 (headphones) and B&O H3 (earphones). Both are only 18Om.
So what surprised me, even in TurboHiFi mode I had to turn volume almost on max level to make smart sound loudly. Even my Nubia Z9 is better. I suspect there's some programmatic limitation of volume level in Lenovo. Otherwise, it's crap...

 

[SmOgER]

Today i was able to listen to Lenovo Vibe X3 a little bit.
I could not transfer my FLACs to it, unfortunately. So I only downloaded some short testing samples.
They did not have a big choice of head/ear phones, too.
So i tried Vibe on Sennheiser Momentum M2 (headphones) and B&O H3 (earphones). Both are only 18Om.
So what surprised me, even in TurboHiFi mode I had to turn volume almost on max level to make smart sound loudly. Even my Nubia Z9 is better. I suspect there's some programmatic limitation of volume level in Lenovo. Otherwise, it's crap...

Even though that's the first time I've ever heard of that "Nubia", you make it sound like it has mediocre SQ, but judging by gsmarena it's a good sounding phone with decent amount of power.
http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_nubia_z9-review-1284p7.php

 

[alexandis]

Even though that's the first time I've ever heard of that "Nubia", you make it sound like it has mediocre SQ, but judging by gsmarena it's a good sounding phone with decent amount of power.
http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_nubia_z9-review-1284p7.php

Well, i would say it's pretty good smartphone in all aspects. Sound is clear, but a little bit not enough for me. I would say this smartphone is better than ordinary smartphone on Qualcomm, since it has an AKM SoC. But it's worse, than solutions with ESS Sabre DAC + separate amplifier.
 
So that's why I've decided to listen to some smartphone with dedicated DAC and amplifier. Besides, I appreciate IPS display and big battery. Vibe X3 fits the bill here. I also want to try another earphones or headphones, my Sennheiser IE80 is already 3 years old and IMHO too much bass and mid and hi frequencies lack details. Maybe i need to buy armature this time.

 

[mikedcw]

Performance wise the M8 can keep up easly, but some say it's audio is not that great for not having a proper DAC. At least it is loud and has little distortion even in uper volumes. Many like it and recomend plus XDA has a lot of sound mods to improve things.
To buy the M8 you gonna need to look into Mercado Livre and OLX.

This Vibe X3 seems pretty good too, the processor isn't top notch but it can do everything well. A page ago some user mention the stereo speakers of the Vibe X3 better than M8's.

I had found it on Mercado Livre for a great price, my only worry is with ANATEL, and if it would work... Anatel has been getting more annoying each and every year with imported phones.

  Today i was able to listen to Lenovo Vibe X3 a little bit.
I could not transfer my FLACs to it, unfortunately. So I only downloaded some short testing samples.
They did not have a big choice of head/ear phones, too.
So i tried Vibe on Sennheiser Momentum M2 (headphones) and B&O H3 (earphones). Both are only 18Om.
So what surprised me, even in TurboHiFi mode I had to turn volume almost on max level to make smart sound loudly. Even my Nubia Z9 is better. I suspect there's some programmatic limitation of volume level in Lenovo. Otherwise, it's crap...

 From what region is the Vibe X3 that you bought? Could be a limitation like some european phones have for volume, idk. I've read only good comments about its SQ so far

 

[clarkydaz]

  Well, i would say it's pretty good smartphone in all aspects. Sound is clear, but a little bit not enough for me. I would say this smartphone is better than ordinary smartphone on Qualcomm, since it has an AKM SoC. But it's worse, than solutions with ESS Sabre DAC + separate amplifier.
 
So that's why I've decided to listen to some smartphone with dedicated DAC and amplifier. Besides, I appreciate IPS display and big battery. Vibe X3 fits the bill here. I also want to try another earphones or headphones, my Sennheiser IE80 is already 3 years old and IMHO too much bass and mid and hi frequencies lack details. Maybe i need to buy armature this time.

that turbo hifi setting on the X3 is lower default than normal, and there might be some eq going on to flatten things a bit. easy to miss if you were pushed for time, the stock setting is louder for an initial listen

 

[alexandis]

 
that turbo hifi setting on the X3 is lower default than normal, and there might be some eq going on to flatten things a bit. easy to miss if you were pushed for time, the stock setting is louder for an initial listen

 
At first I've tried to listen on default Hi-Fi setting, the volume seemed too low, so I've turned Turbo mode on, thinking it would release some amplification... Thanks for noticing. But another person today compared Meizu Pro 5 and Lenovo Vibe X3 and noticed, that Pro 5 is by far more detailed and powerful...
 

 
I had found it on Mercado Livre for a great price, my only worry is with ANATEL, and if it would work... Anatel has been getting more annoying each and every year with imported phones.

 From what region is the Vibe X3 that you bought? Could be a limitation like some european phones have for volume, idk. I've read only good comments about its SQ so far

 
I have not bought it, just tried in the shop... It's Ukraine.
 
Well... so, what we have eventually? Seems like most likely in sense of sound Meizu Pro 5 is a better choice. I'd like it to have a more powerful battery (3500-4000) and IPS screen nevertheless... Another choice is VIVO X6 Plus (i like big phones, since I read from it a lot) with battery 4000mAh. Which is even better by sound (there is detailed review on soomal.com) BUT it's not rooted and maybe will never be. It's maybe the main thing that stops me from buying it. Don't have idea what to do - don't want to buy additional device - hi-fi player... 

 

[SmOgER]

compared Meizu Pro 5 and Lenovo Vibe X3 and noticed, that Pro 5 is by far more detailed and powerful...

Well that's hardly surprising.
Meizu has quite substantial experience making audio gear and they really upped their game since Pro MX4.